Chapter Two: Three Paupers

“What’s going on here!”
Yang Wentian nearly shouted these words aloud.

Forging is powerful, extremely powerful. Yang Wentian knew this well. He had seen weapons produced by forging at the auction house—ones with an attack range of 560-800, endowed with divine-level special effects, and priced at three million universal points.

But… raising forging skills would require more than just those universal points. While forging skill books weren’t expensive, the truly advanced recipes were all exorbitantly priced.

We can’t afford this…

The words hovered at the tip of his tongue, but in the end, he forced himself to swallow them. Perhaps this person had another idea; perhaps this was the beginning of a new scheme…

In short, Wang Luo’s performance in the previous world made Yang Wentian reluctant to treat him with the usual casual attitude. So he simply chose silence.

“I still have 380 points. Which basic skill do you think I should learn? Something offensive,” Wang Luo asked after a while.

“This one's pretty good.” Yang Wentian produced a skill book. “Cheap, and the effect isn’t bad. Basic combat skill books like this usually cost around 150 points.”

Wang Luo took the skill book and examined it.

E-level Skill: Slash — Lv1
Effect: Consumes one point of energy, delivers a heavy blow to the enemy before you with your weapon, causing an extra 3 points of damage.

“Would a handgun be better?”

“Firearms don’t work well in ancient scenarios,” Yang Wentian explained. “Many newcomers buy all sorts of guns after their first scenario, but when they take those into ancient settings, they’re suppressed—even less effective than bows and arrows.”

“Scenario… suppression…”

“Right. Some call this scenario adaptation. Basically, that’s how it goes. If you bring a mecha from a sci-fi scenario into, say, the Three Kingdoms, its combat power is about the same as an elephant.”

“I see.”

“Mm, so after spending some time in the space, few people bother buying firearms. The ones we had last scenario were because I took a newcomer guidance mission and knew we’d be heading to a modern setting. But now…” Yang Wentian glanced at his two teammates. “With two newcomers on the team, it’s almost certain we’ll be facing a Bronze or Iron Age scenario.”

Page 1/3

“So that’s how it is.” Wang Luo nodded. “I’ll learn this skill now, then.”

“No need to rush. Newcomers only have two skill slots; once they’re full, you can’t learn anything else,” Yang Wentian said. “Surviving a battlefield scenario unlocks a third slot; completing advanced node missions gives you a fourth. Take your time, see if there’s anything else you want to learn, save your universal points, and buy it after finishing a scenario.”

“Do you know what the next scenario will be? Can you find out in advance?” Wang Luo asked.

“For newcomers, it’s usually revealed right before entering. I can get notified two hours ahead,” Yang Wentian replied.

Wang Luo nodded and turned to Zhou Yingxiong. “Old Zhou’s talent is defensive, so learn a defensive skill.”

“Okay.” Zhou Yingxiong approached the rhombus-shaped light pillar, fumbled around, and pulled out a skill book.

“I’ll go with this one.”

Skill: Block
E-level Skill: Block — Lv1
Effect: Consumes 2 points of energy, raises your shield to block the next attack, reducing damage by 10 points (minimum damage taken is 1).

“Shields aren’t cheap,” Yang Wentian remarked with a frown at Zhou Yingxiong’s choice.

Then it was time to choose equipment. Wang Luo spent a long time picking, using 200 universal points to buy a plain short sword with an attack rating of 5-9. Zhou Yingxiong spent 100 points on a small iron shield with a defense rating of 3-4.

“Well, at least we’re armed now…” Yang Wentian let out the lament of the impoverished. “I still have over a thousand points, so you two can afford the training room fee.”

“Should’ve tried to make more money earlier,” Wang Luo said with a dejected look. “If I sold info from the previous scenario, how much would it fetch?”

“Probably no one would buy it,” Yang Wentian shrugged. “Besides, intel doesn’t fetch a good price in the space. It’s said that different choices by different people can change the scenario’s content.”

“Forget it, then.”

There was nothing more to be done. Afterwards, Yang Wentian led his two teammates to the rest room entrance.

“This is our individual rest room. We enter through the same door, but end up in different rooms. Advanced teams can get a shared rest room, but we… can’t afford it yet.”

“There’s a bed and simple furniture inside. Rest for a while; after staying for seven hours, your personal storage space will be unlocked.”

“Time flows the same in the space. It’s now 10:40. So, eight hours later, we meet here again and head to the training room.”

Page 2/3

The rest room inside the space was a very basic little cabin. The walls were made of pale yellow metal. There was a bed, a table, and a chair. As he entered, Wang Luo received a prompt:

“Number 19571, you have entered your personal room in the Infinite Space.”

“No outsider may enter this room without your permission. You can store items of any volume here without affecting their original size. Your stamina recovery rate here is doubled, and injuries heal faster.”

“Upon leaving the room, your appearance will be blurred. However, members who have interacted with you to some extent can still recognize you. When communicating with outsiders in the space, certain information you mention will be automatically filtered; you will not be able to convey it to others.”

“If you have other questions, please explore on your own.”

The prompt was brief and vague. Wang Luo’s mind was flooded with questions.

If this is a chicken farm—and participants like himself are chickens—then all the fascinating items, equipment, and skills in the light pillar are bait cast by the breeder. Undoubtedly, their breeding is successful.

If this assumption holds, how does one escape?

If this is a hunting ground, and we are prey, with everything in the light pillar designed to make the hunt more entertaining—how do we get out?

The biggest issue is the boredom of the real world, which breeds people’s love for this place. Even himself—he found himself liking it.

That is the greatest danger.

And the being or intelligence controlling all this—does it seek profit, or amusement? What weaknesses does it have? Perfection does not exist; it must have a flaw.

Its management style can be summarized through the battles in the scenarios. But its purpose—that is the most crucial thing, and must be discovered as soon as possible.

These thoughts tangled in his mind for a while. Soon, fatigue overwhelmed his worries, suspicions, and contemplation.

He lay down on the bed and quickly fell asleep.

Page 3/3